Modern Smartphone devices are typically equipped with geolocation features, such as global positioning system (GPS) components. The GPS components may use signals from GPS satellites to identify a location of the devices in a three-dimensional space. However, using GPS to determine an altitude of the device may be only accurate to about 10 meters and usually requires that the device can receive information from at least four GPS satellites at the same time. Moreover, in locations where the GPS satellite signals are weak, for example, indoors, GPS may not function well or at all.
Some services are capable of providing an indoor location of the devices by using other information, such as from wireless access points or cell tower multilateration. Using this type of information, these services may be capable of determining a device's location in an area as small as 10 meters. However, in a building with multiple floors, 10 meters can be as far away as three floors of the building, leading to large inaccuracies.